1 . Open an app at your smart phone and scan the code bar on the garbage can. When you throw garbage into the garbage can, it will show the weight of the garbage and the points you can get from doing so.     1     It will become more popular in the future. Yes, we are talking about the smart garbage can.

    2     The environmental problems have become constant headaches in the development of those cities. Encouraging garbage classification has become an effective way.

In some cities, a variety of multifunctional smart garbage cans are being put into use. In Beijing, for example, a smart garbage can is equipped with an LED screen, which not only shows national policies on garbage classification but also shows the correct steps for garbage sorting. It can also calculate the weight of the garbage and the accumulated points one can get. They can be traded for some articles of daily use.     3     Its body is actually a screen. It is equipped with some Internal sensors. When people throw garbage into it, the internal sensors can automatically tell the types of the garbage. Meanwhile, people can see how to deal with them.     4    

Garbage disposal is a small issue that involves everybody each day. However, it is also a big issue.    5     With smart garbage cans in our daily life, the idea of garbage sorting will become more established. Our dream of building a greener and more beautiful China will come true so long as we start to make small changes right now.

6 . When Shanghai introduced a new garbage-sorting policy (垃圾类政策) in July last year, the city’s residents (居民) took some time to get used to it. They joked that every time they took out their garbage, the staff (工作人员) standing by the bins would ask, “What kind of garbage are you?”

Starting on May 1, Beijing joined many Chinese cities by introducing a new garbage-sorting policy, People’s Daily reported. Residents should sort their garbage into four groups: kitchen, recyclable, hazardous (有害的) and other waste.

These groups are represented (代表) by four different colors of trash bins—green, blue, red and gray. Those who fail to sort their trash correctly may be fined up to 200 yuan, Xinhua reported.

Some cities like Shanghai and Qingdao sort their trash differently. These cities use four different groups: wet, recyclable, harmful and dry. Although their names are different, the groups are actually the same. In fact, wet garbage in Shanghai is kitchen garbage in Beijing. And dry garbage is the same as other waste, China Youth Daily reported.

To help residents sort their trash correctly, the Beijing government is offering online guidelines (指导). If people don’t know how to throw away garbage, they can search for it on the WeChat account Guanchenglishi (管城理市) to find out. By searching a keyword or taking a photo, people can immediately find out which group their waste belongs to.

7 . Recycling is good for our planet, but it can be confusing. Can I recycle plastic bags? What about pizza cartons? Toothpaste tubes? Which bin should I use? There are so many questions, and more than half of Americans are unsure about how to recycle.     1     Here’s a handy four-step guide on how to recycle effectively:

Know what to put in the recycling bin. Keep it simple and focus on the most commonly recycled items, such as paper, glass, aluminum and plastic.     2     Don’t use the recycled symbol as a guide. “The number on the container is really for people to identify the type of resin (树脂). That’s not helpful for the common consumer,” said Cody Marshall, a strategist at nonprofit Recycling Partnership.

    3     It is really important to know what you cannot put in your bin. You can always check with your city or at BeRecycled.org. If you live in the US, just plug in your postcode to search. Recycling companies struggle with the same problem items: hoses (软管), cords, needles and clothing, according to Marshall, so don’t put those items in your bin.

Wash or clean items. Do a quick clean to make sure there is no food left in containers before you put them in the bin.     4     Save food for composting (堆肥) in your garden.

Don’t bag it. Unless you live in a place that requires it, like New York City, keep the recyclables lost in the bin. “A lot of the time, it’s not safe for our employees to tear those bags open, or it takes too much time,” said Keller. “    5    ”

Does Recycling Work For Plastic?

Dealing with plastic waste is always a tough problem. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), half of the world’s plastic waste ends up in a landfill, 19% burned, and another 22% escapes waste management systems and goes into uncontrolled dumpsites.

So environmentalists suggest plastic waste should be recycled properly, which proves an effective way to handle other waste like paper, cardboard, metal and glass. However, a new study by Greenpeace, and reporting in the Boston Globe, suggests that recycling plastic is a “myth” and raises a major question about the future: does recycling work? Unfortunately, the short answer is “not really.”

There’s been a lot of debate over what really happens to recycled plastic. But scientists say that recycling plastic waste has mostly failed because it’s very difficult to collect and nearly impossible to sort. Because plastic is often made from harmful materials, it can be harmful to the environment to reprocess.

Much of the solution falls on big companies to change the way they do business. The way forward seems to be mostly to cut down on companies’ reliance on plastic packaging, and to move toward reusable packaging and packaging-free alternatives. Above all, companies need to phase out all single-use plastics. For the consumer, living more plastic-free is the only real solution available. Avoiding drinks in plastic containers, using a travel mug or reusable water bottle, bringing your own reusable bag, buying in bulk and cutting back on pre-packaged foods are all a good start.

But in the end, corporate America needs a deeper commitment to the plastic waste problem. “Companies must take action now to get rid of single-use plastics and packaging and not rely on false solutions such as recycling,” says Greenpeace.